The following is the full text of an interview with Brett McGurk, White House National Security Council Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," which aired on January 19, 2025.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We give the floor to Brett McGurk, the White House National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa. Glad you're here, Brett.
Brett McGurk: Thank you. Margaret, great to be here.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We're watching breaking news. This is the deal you negotiated. Can you tell us how the three women who were transferred to the Red Cross are doing? Excellently,
Brett McGurk: I just confirmed with my Israeli counterpart that they are now being held in Israeli custody. So this just happened. Look, I know they're alive. I'm sure they have been held in terrible conditions for 470 days, but Israel has a very good system to take care of them and they will get the care they need and be reunited with their families.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Until this morning, there were questions about whether Hamas would do that. The Israelis said they had not yet handed over the names of the captives. Do we - why and do we know anything about the health status of the three Americans who remain incarcerated?
Brett McGurk: Well, look, there's a good reason this deal was negotiated for over a year. It was a detailed and complex arrangement that left nothing to chance. Even up until last night, I stayed up until four in the morning to finally put things in place to make sure everything went according to plan. Hamas owes the names of these three men so that the ceasefire can take effect. The result was a delay of several hours. It finally happened and now we have the news today. A comprehensive ceasefire has taken effect in Gaza. Some 800 aid trucks entered Gaza today.
Margaret Brennan: 800?
Brett McGurk: 800 aid trucks are arriving in Gaza today, and these three girls are now reunited, hopefully with their families, who are now being held in Israeli custody.
MARGARET BRENNAN: According to the United Nations, there were an average of 72 trucks coming in every day in December, and that was also the case in January. Do the Israelis have the ability to search these trucks and allow food in? Do you expect 800 trucks to enter Gaza today?
BRETT MCGURK: That's why I've been in the Middle East for the last month, non-stop making sure everything is ready. This wasn't put together last week. In fact, these elements have been put together since President Biden laid out the framework in May. He developed the framework with the Emir of Qatar and Egyptian President Sisi and announced it to the world in May. The resolution was unanimously endorsed by the United Nations Security Council. Margaret, we thought we were close in August, and then we killed six hostages in the tunnels below Rafah. I was just talking to my mother in your green room, or to the mother of Hirsch Goldberg-Pohling, who was brutally murdered in August. It was the Hamas hostage killings in August that made us decide to change the script. No deal was reached because Hamas did not agree to release the hostages. We support the Israelis in their pursuit of Hezbollah. They eliminated Hezbollah in Lebanon. We have a ceasefire in Lebanon. We have a new government in Lebanon. This isolates Hamas. Iran is in its most vulnerable position in the Middle East in decades. So we went back to the negotiating table in December, and Hamas was ready for the first time, for the first time, to accept the May framework and start releasing hostages. They didn't actually approve the hostage list until early January, and that's where we are today.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But do we know what's going on with Keith Siegel, Sagui Chen and Edan Alexander?
Brett McGurk: Keith will be out in the first period. Sagui will appear in the first stage. Idan is an Israeli soldier in uniform. He is in the second stage. But we promise. I think you just heard this from Mike Waltz, we've been working seamlessly with the incoming team. I think it's a testament to President Biden and President Trump that we can work together. Last week I worked with Steve Witkoff again in what I thought was a historic partnership to help get this done --
Margaret Brennan: Trump’s envoy.
BRETT MCGURK: We're committed to -- we're committed to getting Edan out as soon as possible. Just last night, I spoke with Aidan's father, Ady Alexander.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Prime Minister Netanyahu called the night a temporary ceasefire and said he had been given permission to start fighting if needed. Do you think he saw this as just a strategic pause, or did he actually want to end the war?
BRETT MCGURK: The way the deal is structured, on day 16, the second phase of negotiations begins. The second phase will begin negotiations for an exchange of soldiers with Palestinian prisoners. But conditions must also be set for phase two, and we support the Israelis in ensuring that these conditions are set so that Hamas can never regain power in Gaza. Hamas can no longer threaten Israel from Gaza. These conditions must be set. We in the Biden administration have been very clear. We would like to see this - that the deal has completed all three phases. Every hostage went home. I think the Trump administration is very much in agreement with the goals and the template and the road map that the president laid out in May, which is the road map to ultimately end the war, and getting everyone home is the only way to do it. The roadmap is now in place. Today we have a ceasefire in Gaza, we have a great opportunity to get every hostage home, and we must do everything we can to make that happen.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, according to Secretary Blinken, Hamas has recruited almost as many new fighters as it has lost over the course of this war. Blinken said this week.
Brett McGurk: Hamas has been severely weakened. Its leader, Yahya Sinwar, was killed in October. Without that, we wouldn't have made this deal. Hamas formed an organized military force on October 7. It invaded Israel with 3,500 military formations and combat brigades. This can no longer be done. It has no military capabilities -
MARGARET BRENNAN: But this suggests that what Israel is doing may be counterproductive for them in terms of the humanitarian situation, allowing Hamas not only to lose support but to continue to recruit.
BRETT MCGURK: To get -- I -- I worked closely with my Israeli colleagues. I spent several hours with Prime Minister Netanyahu. He fully supports the deal. They agree. These hostages are morally responsible. You have to get them out. Israel will also ensure the protection of its national security. We're going to make sure that we do that, you know, Margaret, that we get this deal without the broader Middle East war that everyone's predicting. Americans are not involved in the broader Middle East wars. We defend Israel from Iranian missile attacks. We support Israel in its pursuit of Hezbollah. We support Israel in its pursuit of Hamas. We have dismantled Iran's proxy network in the region, which has led to the isolation of Hamas. To actually get this deal done today, that's how we got here.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, I have to take a break here. Brett, I don't mean to interrupt you, but we have more questions, but we have to take a break first. Stay with us.
Part 2:
MARGARET BRENNAN: Welcome back to Face the Nation. We are now continuing our conversations with Brett McGurk of the National Security Council under President Biden. Brett, I just want to pick up where we left off. Just last week, President Biden gave his final interview, a private conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Have a listen:
BIDEN SAUTER: I say, but Bibi, I say, you can't carpet bomb these communities. He said to me, okay, you did it. You carpet bombed, not his exact words, but you carpet bombed Berlin. You drafted nuclear weapons and you killed thousands of innocent people because you had to do it to win the war.
MARGARET BRENNAN: President Biden goes on to say that's why the entire United Nations and the international order were created to prevent this from happening again. To what extent do you think Israel's military actions have damaged Israel's standing in the world?
Brett McGurk: Margaret, this was a conversation earlier when the debate was whether the Israelis should be on the ground. We debated this with them. Ultimately, we support them and they are right because Hamas lives in 400 miles of tunnels under Gaza. There is no way to eradicate Hamas without entering Gaza, and frankly—
MARGARET BRENNAN: But he was talking about dropping bombs on buildings.
BRETT MCGURK: You can see, but I'm just going back to the conversation. It's about how things are going to play out. Look, we work closely with the Israelis. Too many people died in this war. That's why we worked so hard to achieve today's ceasefire. Today's ceasefire, this framework, the road map that the president laid out in May, is the only way to end the war, and frankly the only way to end the war is to put intense pressure on Hamas and eliminate the other proxies that support Hamas people. I must stress this again, while Hezbollah is firing on Israel every day, Hassan Nasrallah's position is that they will not stop firing on Israel and make northern Israel a no man's land until Israel accepts Hama All conditions in Gaza. . Israel must defeat Hezbollah to reach this deal. This is what happened with the ceasefire in late November. That's what opened up the space for this deal to happen. This is a brutal war, but in order to end it we must reach a ceasefire. To do this, we must support Israel and support them. We did it.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We'll see if a ceasefire ends the war and there will be more diplomatic efforts in the future. Brett McGurk, thanks for sharing the details.